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Posts
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Joined
About Me
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Location
St. Simons Island, GA
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Interests
Skiing, scuba, skydiving, traveling, college football (Go Navy, Go Dawgs), photography, sailing
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Favorite Cruise Line(s)
NCL
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Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
Baltic
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Carnac767's Achievements
3,000+ Club (3/15)
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The Gem will be homeporting in Jax!
Carnac767 replied to FLcruisergrl's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
You're right. It's about $90 for an Uber from the Island to JAX airport, and the port is probably about $10-$15 more. On a 12-day cruise that's more cost effective than paying for parking. Fly Navy. -
The Gem will be homeporting in Jax!
Carnac767 replied to FLcruisergrl's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
The Jax NBC affiliate reports that Gem will cruise from Nov through April every year through 2028. The proposed itineraries will be available on February 15, they say. The Florida Times-Union says destinations will include the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St Thomas and St John, VI, Antigua, and St. Kitts, We're hoping the ship will reposition to Europe ahead of hurricane season for summer cruises, so we can jump on a TA, which we always enjoy. -
The Gem will be homeporting in Jax!
Carnac767 replied to FLcruisergrl's topic in Norwegian Cruise Line
Great news for us, too. The Jewel Class is our favorite class of ship, and some of the itineraries reported in the Jacksonville media look pretty good. It will be nice to see something in port beside that ugly Carnivore ship. -
The question often arises concerning Transatlantic cruises and that is "what will the sea conditions be like?" Here are a couple of photos taken from USS Teddy Roosevelt in 1999 on her way from Norfolk to the Med. She ran into this storm in early April. The ship encountered 20' swells and 80' waves. The first shot is TR taking white water over the flight deck, which is roughly 60' above the sea surface. The second photo is of one of the escorts getting clobbered. Now that I've terrified everyone, let me add that this was a freak storm and very unusual. I've made several crossings in late May and they've all been bathtub calm for the most part. But as these photos illustrate, the Atlantic Ocean is a fickle beast. If we ever encounter conditions like this on SDII, we won't have to stop for swim call. The ocean will call on us.
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Welcome aboard, TZ. I hope we have swim call. I've done it in the mid-Pacific, right where the equator meets the international date line. Want to add the Atlantic to that very short list. When I lived in Bermuda in the 80s, the water temperature in late April/late May was in the high 60s/low 70s, which to me was like the Arctic. The further east we go the cooler it will be. So, it won't be a long swim. 🥶
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We'd booked a deck two cabin for our upcoming SDII cruise because it was $1400 cheaper than a deck 3 cabin, and I didn't care about port holes versus picture windows. But then I realized we were in one of those convertible cabins and began to wonder if noise would be a problem. I probably wasted $1400, because I moved us to a non-convertible on Deck 3. As everyone says, we won't be in the cabin much except to sleep. Oh well. On every cruise I book, I'm like that guy in the meme, out with my nice cabin but looking back over my shoulder at the pretty cabin that just walked by.
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It's the one port call we have on next April's TA from Palm Beach
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I've done this route a couple of times on NCL, both times from Port Canaveral and in late April. Temps were generally low 70s for highs in the western Atlantic, cooling off to high-to-mid 60 the further east we traveled. Seas were bathtub smooth both times but mind you, the North Atlantic is a fickle beast. As a rule, however, sea state on our route that time of year is generally fairly light. From Bermuda on we had the relative wind right on the stern which meant there was hardly any wind on deck for most of the crossing. I have been across that time of year on an aircraft carrier where the sea was so rough we lost an A-6 overboard, despite 22 tie-down chains but those were freak conditions. Go Dawgs!
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For any of you who've been on a SD port call in Bermuda, I have a few questions. Does the yachtshipboatfloatiething anchor or dock? And where does she do this, Hamilton, St. George, or King's Wharf? Was anything planned for the port call or is it independent steaming? I know Bermuda well, having lived there for a few years, but I don't want to make any plans for our stop there next April until I know if SD is going to be doing anything for the pax. Thanks in advance.